A New Ulm native, Wilbrecht was born in Loretto Hospital Jan. 30, 1940. He was the only child of Edward and Clara Wilbrecht. From a young age Wilbrecht was a joiner. He liked to be part of different groups and volunteer. The first group he joined was the Holy Trinity Club Scout Pack. This led to him joining the Boy Scout Troop 25.

Not only did he earned the Eagle Scout Award, the highest award in scouting, Wilbrecht eventually joined the Explorer Scouts Post 225 and receive the Order of the Arrow.

“You don’t ask to join that,” Wilbrecht said. “you get picked out as a leader. It is a prestigious award given to outstanding scouts.”

Wilbrecht’s success in scouting was reflected in many other areas of his life. Once he joined an organization or group, he remained in it for the long haul and often took on leadership status. His curiosity would also lead him to explore a variety of interests.

Of all his interests, music is likely the oldest. Wilbrecht said around 71 years of his life were dedicated to playing music. He remembers playing music in grade school as part of the rhythm band.

“I never cared for sports but I loved music,” Wilbrecht said. He played percussion all through school, including all four years at Cathedral High School, playing with the school band and in a rock ‘n roll band with friends. Asked why he liked the drums, Wilbrecht said he just liked the sound of it.

Wilbrecht graduated from Cathedral High in 1959. His first job was working for Neubauer Clothing store, but on the side he played as a drummer in multiple bands. After graduating, he Guy De Leo’s band. For two years before De Leo retired. After graduating he joined Dan and Betty Mecklenburg’s band, the Melodeer’s.

“We played country clubs and supper clubs for about 30 years,” he said. Around the same time he joined with Stan Carda’s band and drummed for several decades.

“It was not uncommon to play with multiple bands,” Wilbrecht said. There was always some musical group who needed a drummer for a once a week gig.

Dick Wilbrecht serves as tour guide at Schell’s Brewery.

In 1965, Wilbrecht began working at 3M in New Ulm. He started out as a quality control inspector, before moving on to production control analysis, followed by inventory analysis, production foreman and line supervisor. His career at 3M would eventually take a unique turn as he became a safety instructor and fire trainor for the company.

As a 3M employee, Wilbrecht was able to enroll in night school courses at Mankato State University. He said many 3M employees took business classes, but he also enrolled in the EMT paramedic program at South Central College in Mankato.

After receiving his EMT license, Wilbrecht was approached by the college to join the staff as an instructor. He became an instructor for Red Cross and American Heart Association. He was sent through the nine area counties as an instructor for ambulance and firefighter crews.

He continued working with 3M as part of their emergency squad. He used his EMT training to teach first aid and safety on the 3M campus. Eventually, 3M sent him to St. Paul for fire fighters training as well.

Even with his new instructor role, Wilbrecht made time for music. He said after working all week, on Friday and Saturday he would come home, change from his uniform and join one of the bands on stage.

Dick Wilbrecht was playing drums for 23-piece pro-mational band called “The Dixielanders.” The band was sponsored by the Music Store Inc. of New Ulm. The band once appear on National TV for entertaining tailgaters be-fore a Vikings football game.

In 1979, Wilbrecht joined the band he most associated with, The Concord Singers. He has been the band’s principal drummer ever since. This makes him one of the longest serving members with 44 years in the group.

Wilbrecht has many fond memories of his time with the Concord Singers. He remembered the group received national acclaim in 1983. A Tennessee group wanted to do a televise a Christmas show in five different languages and settings. New Ulm was chosen to represent Germany. The former Holiday Inn was decorated for a Christmas broadcast in which The Concord Singers sang “O Tannenbaum.”

“That got us more publicity than anything else,” Wilbrecht said. The Concord Singer’s segment was likely only a few minutes, but most of the country saw it. This led to more request to perform. Wilbrecht said at times they were traveling to two shows a week.

“I’ve gone on five tours of central Europe and several of Canada and the United States,” Wilbrecht said.

In between work as an EMT instructor and drumming for multiple bands, Wilbrecht found time to volunteer for several other organizations including the Civil Air Patrol, Heritagefest parade organizer, and co-chair of the Brown County Salvation Army, and of the Yellow Ribbon Society.

Dick Wilbrecht playing drums for the Muscat Ramblers.

Wilbrecht is often asked how he found the time to achieve so much. He likes to remind people that this is looking back on 84 years of living.

“You have a lot of steam at a young age,” he said. “Think of the time you are in now and what you want to accomplish.”

Wilbrecht admits that he was never a fan of sitting around. He always preferred to give of his time.

“I like giving more than receiving,” he said.

It was with this mentality, that Wilbrecht received devastating news in June 2023. A medical check up confirmed his heart was not working at full capacity. He was fitted with a pacemaker/defibrillator but Wilbrecht’s heart is running at a reduced capacity.

“I had to give up almost everything I love doing,” he said. “Including my love of performing on stage,” he said. Wilbrecht can attend Concord Singer practices, but he cannot play with the band anymore.

Despite the diagnosis, Wilbrecht remains optimistic.

“Most people who know me say I am a straight line thinker or positive thinker,” he said. He doesn’t want to dwell on the past. Learn from it and move forward. “Plan for the future but don’t worry about it.”

Through his accomplishments, Wilbrecht said he is extremely proud of his four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He said one of the best ways to make it through life is to be with family and friends. Wilbert’s greatest piece of advice is to stay humble and kind.

“Try to stay positive each day,” he said “and take it like it is the last day on earth.”